


Damaged Hearts, Soft Hands.

by rpgsrule



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Multi, Mutual Pining, Polyamory, Slow Burn, like a small smattering of light angst from time to time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2018-12-29 18:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12090402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rpgsrule/pseuds/rpgsrule
Summary: Basically Percy, Vex and Keyleth are all useless bisexuals and have massive crushes on each other but none of them are game to do anything about it. Also non-binary Keyleth because why write fanfiction if you can't project onto your faves?





	1. Mistakes and Mishaps

Long fingers scratched the crow's neck, they cooed under her breath to calm the bird, Keyleth had dealt with Orthax long enough that they knew he was always twitchy at first when he was in her room. Their eyes flicked up to Percy, and in the half a second that it took them to adjust their expression, Keyleth looked at him with fondness they reserved for the animals under their care, and Percy went into what felt like a small cardiac arrest.

"So, what seems to be the problem with Orthax?" Keyleth asked, blissfully unaware of Percy's frantic heartbeat.

"Uh.. Well…" Percy stuttered, his breath still catching in his throat, "Lately he's been making this really weird sound, completely different from his usual caw. I know that it's probably nothing, but I wanted to be sure."

Keyleth pulled their stethoscope up from around their neck and listened to the bird's breathing, "I can't hear anything too out of place, his breath is a little quick, but that's not unusual, considering he's probably scared of being poked and prodded." They straightened up to face Percy, "What is this weird sound-"

 **"-VVVVNNNNGGGNNNNCCCC!"** Orthax screeched, making Keyleth jump out of their skin.

"That's the sound, in case you were wondering," Percy said, his tone casual despite the almost eldritch scream that had filled the room only a few seconds ago, he leant against the examination table and looked at Orthax with a fond smirk.

Keyleth chuckled, still shaken by the sudden noise, "Yeah, I kind of figured."

A few moments of silence followed as Keyleth examined the crow more thoroughly, they winced as they ran their hands over mutilated wings, it had healed much in the months since Percy had rescued the bird from its former owners, but Keyleth knew that despite their initial optimistic outlook on the bird's recovery, that Orthax would never fly more than a few feet ever again. Still, despite the obviously unique screech the bird was using, Keyleth couldn't find anything wrong with him, eventually they just looked back at Percy and shrugged.

"I guess he has a unique new call, I can't find anything wrong with him that we haven't taken care of already," they thought for a second before adding, "If you're worried about him keeping you or your neighbours up, you could probably train him out of using it, he's a smart bird and he likes you. You don't need anything more than that to get him to work with you." Keyleth grinned, "But it does speak well of you that you brought him back here just in case."

Percy found himself dazzled by their smile and could only mumble out a few half formed words in response, he gave Orthax a scratch on the nape just to have something to do with his hands. Their compliment wouldn't have been so upseting if he had actually come here today only because of Orthax, but his intentions were less than pure, he had come here today to confess his crush on them. He'd met Doctor Ashari about five months prior at a bar downtown, Vex and him were having drinks with her brother and his boyfriend, and although he never expected to meet them again, after Trinket swallowed a bottlecap, their paths crossed once more… and Percy fell a little bit harder.

Keyleth looked at Percy's face, and tried not to blush, they had also found themselves enamoured with the tall (it was rare for them to find people taller than them) white haired man, who always dressed in crumpled suits and coats, despite it being the middle of summer… but they saw the way Percy acted around his roommate, and there was no way they could compete with such a knockout of a woman. So Keyleth had done their best to quell their crush and focus on the job at hand, after all, there was absolutely no way that they could date a client, especially one that came in as often as he did.

"So… that should be all for today, I won't charge you since it was such a quick checkup and nothing was actually wrong with him so-" Keyleth stopped as it looked like Percy was about to say something else, "..Sorry I must have gotten ahead of myself, is there anything else you need or want?"

Percy's mouth still hung open as he pondered whether to take the chance at doing what he had come here today to do, which _sounds_ like it should have been easy, but in reality his brain was going a hundred miles an hour as he thought of all the things that could go wrong. His gut clenched as he pictured some of the worse scenarios, which ranged from Keyleth laughing in his face to no one ever speaking to him again because he was such a pathetic loser… all of this worrying only took a matter of seconds, and when the anxiety was too much for him to deal with, he closed his mouth and shook his head, hoping that Keyleth wouldn't think he was too strange just for that.

After the failed attempt at a confession, they said their goodbyes (Percy's farewell was far more hurried and strained than Keyleth's) and Percy called a cab and made his way home with Orthax, who was looking decidedly unhappy with his owner, probably because of the trip to the vet, but Percy decided to project and assume that his bird hated his cowardice too. The car ride home was uneventful, the driver was far too chatty for Percy's tastes, but he somehow survived without bursting into tears, as soon as he got back to his apartment, he released Orthax, who clumsily flew to his favourite ceiling nook, and searched for something to do. He eventually found some salvation in Vex's rhinestone encrusted, turquoise phone, it had gotten damaged a couple of days ago and she had been meaning to take it to the shop, but Percy knew enough to fix whatever was wrong with it, and at this point doing something was better than sitting down and letting emotions overcome him.

He grabbed the (slightly ostentatious) phone and ran to his office to get to work.

 

***

 

Percy jumped as someone knocked on his office door, he silently chastised himself for having to fight the urge to reach for the revolver he kept in his top drawer. After all, there was only one person who had a key to his apartment, and no one who meant him harm would knock on an **open** door to get his attention, after a few seconds of shock and then shame, he turned to face his roommate… and then burst out laughing as he had no idea that he was living with a drowned rat.

"Oh my god. Vex what the fuck happened to you?" He said, only  _just_ able to speak through his fit of laughter.

Vex gave him a filthy look that stopped his joking mood immediately, "Ugh, work was… hectic today," Vex replied, her voice filled with disdain as she ran a hand through her hair. "We had a fire drill and everything just went wrong."

"How does a fire drill work on a wildlife reservation?"

Vex'ahlia rolled her eyes, "Well, in short, they **don’t**. If we ever have a bush fire around here, we're screwed. We have way too much land and too many animals to round them up." Vex stared into space for a moment, Percy assumed that she was probably spiralling into a massive string of thoughts about what would happen to the animals should there be a fire and they couldn't help them, until she snapped back to reality and her eyes flicked back to him with a speed that would have given him whiplash had he not known her as well as he did.

"So… how did things go with the Doctor McCutie?" Vex asked, still standing in the doorway as she untangled her muddy wet hair as best she could with her fingers, Percy blushed, and felt Vex's keen eyes scan his face and note his embarrassment.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Percy said firmly, adjusting his collar firmly and refusing to meet his friend's eyes.

"So… not great?" Vex said, hearing the hurt behind the coldness in her friend's voice.

"Yeah… you could say that. Hence all the work. I needed a distraction."

"Aw bud… I'm so sorry… I really wanted it to work out for you," Vex said, her voice carried a slight note of sadness behind the sympathy, and Percy felt a stab of pain enter his chest as he realised how much Vex wanted him to tell Keyleth. " _…Although_ , if you're going to fix a whole bunch of my stuff, maybe people should break your heart more often!" Vex grinned and winked at Percy, the slow and awkward manner that she did so always managed to get a smile out of him, "Now if you were anyone else, I'd give you a hug, but I know you don't like touching at the best of times, and the mud would only make that worse… so I'll leave you to it." 

He gave her a half-hearted smile and faced his work again.

 

***

 

Vex sprinted off to the bathroom, she hoped Percy would just chalk it up to her wanting to clean the mud off of herself (which, while a factor to her haste, was not the main reason), by the time she bolted the door shut, her heart was in her throat and she thought she might just throw up. This was so  _typical_ for her. She not only had a crush on her roommate, but also on their  _vet_ , and she had hoped that if the two of them got together, that she could get over her feelings and go back to a more normal situation, but of course Percy had to chicken out and now  _both_ of them were available, and her best friend was probably going to be emotionally devastated over this whole thing, and Vex didn't know if her little heart could survive all of this.

She sighed, as her mind went round in circles and making her feel more miserable by the second, she scrubbed as thoroughly as possible, but in the end she could only hope for the best in regards to getting all of the mud, so she just threw on some clean clothes to go watch some mindless TV to take her mind off of this entirely ridiculous situation.

As Vex showered, Percy buried himself in the work that most people would consider a chore, but he adored, he didn't even realise how much time had passed until the sun dipped below the horizon, and he could barely see the phone in front of him. He sighed, heaving himself up out of his chair, despite the protest of his stiff joints, and flicked on the office light.

As soon as he lifted his foot to walk back to his desk, he heard a shout from the other room, "Percival Friedrick-bleh Von Blah-Blah De Rolo the Third, don’t you dare go back to that phone!"

He sighed, she always tried to stop him from doing his work just as it was getting good, "I haven't finished working on it yet!" He called back, taking a step towards his desk.

"Well you can finish it after dinner! You haven't come up for air for hours!" Vex called back, Percy had already given up, there was no point arguing with Vex, she always won, he stumbled out to the lounge room, where Vex was sitting, watching some reality TV show, her legs covered by her massive drooling Mastiff.

"Alright, I'm out." Percy collapsed onto the sofa, next to Vex and Trinket, "What are we having for dinner?"

Vex smirked, "Oh, an old family recipe of mine… My mother called it…" She pulled out a familiar white leaflet, "Calling the Chinese place." She chortled after she finished her little jest, even after the three years they'd lived together, her ability to make herself laugh at even her most unfunny jokes still amazed him.

He took the menu from her hands and began to skim, his eyes skipping over his usual choices, he wanted change today, the lounge room was entirely silent (aside from Trinket's snoring) and Percy felt Vex's eyes on him the entire time he was reading.

"So… what happened today?" Her voice was soft, he felt himself melt under the sheer kindness in her tone, he chuckled to cover a sudden sob that shook his chest, it would be funny how little affection it took to make him tear up if it wasn't so fucking _sad._

"I was just… too chicken." He sighed, he prayed to every god there was or wasn't that he could make it through this conversation without bursting into tears. "And it's so fucking stupid because I wouldn't even be this sad if I told them how I felt and they rejected me! The only reason I'm so upset is because I was a fucking coward… again!" By the time he'd finished his last sentence he was shouting, Trinket was awake and had jumped off of Vex's lap to get away from the noise.

Vex ran her hand up and down his back, "Shh, shh… it's okay Perc…" She gently pulled him towards her, and he almost fell into her arms. He had no idea how long they stayed there, Vex had a way of making any time spent with her feel like only a moment or two. He could talk with her for hours or minutes and feel the same.

"You know what's going to make you feel better? We'll order the Chinese, then you and I can run down to the store and grab some really nice ice cream, and I guarantee you by the end of the night you'll have completely forgotten about Dr Ashari… okay?" she said, taking Percy's head in her hands and lifting it so they could look at each other.

"Sounds good. I'm lactose intolerant though." Percy replied, brushing his hair out of his face.

"Well… then we'll just have to hope that there's a good lactose-free ice cream out there," Vex said with a laugh that made his heart swell.

 

***

 

Percy still wasn't used to riding with Vex on her bike, it had come a long way from the total wreck they'd started with, for one thing, it could now keep up with traffic on the highway… on a good day, but it still had a few problems, it shuddered when she hit the brakes, it made weird noises when you started the ignition, and as it was the only vehicle the two of them had, it meant that anytime they had to go somewhere, he had to hold onto Vex. Not that that was necessarily unpleasant to Percy, it was just… more touching than he was used to, and when he had his arms wrapped around her, her hair flew in his face, and it smelled so **good**. The entire ride to the grocery store was a blissful form of agony for Percy, he didn't know when exactly he started liking his roommate but he absolutely did… he found himself wondering if his hell-brain only made him like people he had absolutely no chance with.

Vex pulled up to the curb with a practised grace, and removed her helmet swiftly, letting her hair, which was ridiculously voluminous at the best of times, and had only been worsened by the ride, spill down to her waist. She dismounted and watched with a wry smile as Percy struggled with his helmet, the band around his neck was easy enough to deal with, but he had knocked his glasses off his face when he removed it, and now had spectacles stabbing into his ear and eye. Vex could only watch her friend struggle for so long, before stepping forward and taking the helmet from his hands, and righting his glasses.

It was only when Vex realised how little space there was between their faces that she blushed, took a step back and ruffled his hair roughly. After all, in her mind, there was no chance of her and Percy getting together, so she turned away and walked into the grocery store, after she had reached the doors but still found herself alone, she span on her heels and waved the still shocked Percy forward.

The two of them had the artform that is quick shopping trips mastered, one of them covered one half of the store while the other handled their half, they met back at register five, which is almost always empty because it's manned by Lyra. Lyra being the clumsiest and chattiest human being either of them had ever encountered, but getting a few crushed items and mild boredom was worth not waiting in line to the pair of them, neither of them had the patience or the attention span for queues, plus their little game of speed was always more fun than just shopping like two normal people. Plus it was always worth a chance to convince her to give up on her manager Aldor and find someone who actually cared about her.

After their speed run shopping trip, the two of them picked up their Chinese food and headed home, luckily at this point the traffic had subsided and they managed to get back with their food still somewhere near hot and their ice cream as intact as they could hope after Lyra tripped and threw it into a wall.

That night was the most fun either of them had had in a long time, they talked about almost everything; how Vax and Gilmore were moving upstate in the winter and how much Vex would miss them, that Cassandra was moving up to Vasselheim for university, and how Vesper and Julius were already planning a surprise party for him and were being completely unsubtle about it. Vex asked him whether he was still taking his medication and he said yes, and felt a weird sort of satisfaction in that being the first time in years where someone had asked him that question and he had told the truth. Percy asked Vex what the letter she threw out the other day without opening was, and she just shrugged and told him that when the stamps are from Syngorn and it's not her little sister's handwriting on the front, she just throws it out without even opening it.

They finished their food and after about half an hour later, they got pulled out the ice cream and the vodka they bought and played one of their favourite drinking games while watching Exandria's Got Talent, this year's special guest judge was Dr.Dranzel's protégé, Scanlan Shorthalt, who always voted yes to even the worst acts because he was apparently a sadist who wanted the entire country to suffer. It was almost midnight when they both fell asleep, the pair of them filled to the brim with ice cream and alcohol, they were so drunk and so tired that they didn't even realise that they had fallen asleep in each other's arms until they woke up.


	2. Falling

Percy woke up to a stabbing pain in his cheek, and looked up blearily to see an angry crow staring down at him, Orthax gave his master one more malicious peck before flapping off to a nearby perch. Percy sat up, his eyes foggy and his head _throbbing._ He picked up his glasses from the coffee table and put them on (although he had no memory of taking off his glasses last night), in fact the only thing he remembered from the latter part of last night was the feeling of Vex's hair in his hands, of her chest underneath his head, and her hands running along the scars on his back…

He looked around the lounge room, the mess from last night's revels had been removed, the table had been wiped down, and now that Percy had the presence of mind to _notice,_ next to his glasses was a note written in Vex's flowery script.

_'Darling,_

_Sorry to dash, but worked called (an_ _emergency_ _apparently) so I had to run out on you. I would've woken you up but you were just so cute. I'll see you when I get home._

_-Vex_

 

_P.S Don't worry, we didn't have sex. I wouldn't steal your virginity like that.'_

Percy chuckled, shook his head and placed the note back on the table, he looked back up at Orthax, "I don't suppose Vex fed you before you left?" Orthax cawed and flew towards his food bowl, staring at Percy the whole time, he took that as a 'no' and got up to try to go about his day like his entire world hadn't gone completely mad over the last twenty four hours.

 

***

 

Vex ran, usually when she went out in the park on a Saturday morning, she jogged, not today, today she was _running._ She thought she had passed the stage in her life where she constantly ran away from all her problems, but all the evidence was to the contrary this morning as she did three laps of East River Park as fast as she possibly could. She felt bad for lying to Percy in her note, it was her day off and no emergency could convince her to round up animals on her _day off,_ but she had some thinking to do, and she couldn't do said thinking around Percy and his horrifically perfect face. She felt that it all balanced out in the end, after all, she'd fed both of the animals for him, so at least he wouldn't have to deal with an angry Orthax bothering him. 

 _'I mean, when you think about it, this entire thing is just completely_ **_ridiculous_ ** _. I was crushing on the doctor when we first met, but because Percy liked them I tried to step aside, but now I think I might like_ **_Percy_ ** _of all people and if course nothing can really happen between us while we're still both hung up on-'_

Keyleth, who was stepping back onto the footpath, just as Vex completed her **fourth** lap around the park. Unfortunately Vex noticed the blur that was their bright red hair only a second too late, and couldn't stop herself from running at full speed right into them. For a few seconds, Vex's vision was consumed by a tangle of body parts and dark green fabric, but after they had landed and the initial shock of the collision passed, she had a chance to lift her head off of her victim's back, and to stare in horror at the blood that was pooling around Keyleth's forehead.

 

***

 

"Okay, so what do you think of this," Percy pulled his palm cards out of his chest pocket and faced his audience, "Vex'ahlia and Keyleth. I have brought you both here today to discuss- you two aren't paying attention to me. I worked very hard on this speech and you're both going to hear me out." He stared at Orthax and Trinket, the former was currently sitting on the latter's head, and pecking at his jowls, "You're right. It's too much. This entire speech thing is ridiculous… but how else do you do it? I mean, usually I just let other people take charge, like Lilith." He felt a fond smile tug at his lips as he remembered his albino paramour, "So maybe I should just let someone else decide things, the last time I went around to confess my feelings it didn't exactly go too well, so maybe I should-"

"Why are you talking to your pets?"

"Cassandra!" Percy recoiled back from his animal advisors and fell over himself trying to look natural, "I wasn't- wait… how did you get into my house?"

His sister smiled, "I have a key." Percy was halfway through an objection when she produced a set of lock-picking tools on a key-ring.

Percy glared at her, he could strangle Vax for teaching her that, "Aren't you supposed to be at school or something?"

Cass shrugged, "We had a half-day, besides, finals are finished so it's basically optional at this point," Percy raised an eyebrow at this remark, it was out of character for her to be dismissive of _school_ (also the term "half day" indicated that one was at school for at least _half the day,_ not just leaving after nine in the morning _)_ but she finished her sentence pointedly and Percy thought it best not to push the topic, especially considering the redness and puffiness around her eyes and the tear stains on her collar, his sister could handle herself and he was the **last** person to be giving emotional advice at this point.

"So are you just going to stay here for the day?"

"Is that a problem? I mean I know I interrupted your confession of love to your animal companions," Cassandra said with the trademark de Rolo smirk. "See it's funny, because I thought their names were Orthax and Trinket, not Vex'ahlia and Keyleth."

"That was- you don't-" Percy paused for a moment to collect himself, "What is it going to take for you not to mention any of this to Vesper?"

"You promising not to tell anyone that I came here today…" Percy could see the gears turning behind his devious sister's eyes, "… _and_ you do everything I say for the day."

"Seriously, Cassandra? I thought you were seventeen, not _seven."_ His objection was mostly for show, he knew that if he just said yes Cassandra would add yet another caveat to her silence. In all honesty, Percy didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved with his sister's mild request.

"Oh? I could always come up with a more cruel condition for my silence, but you are my favourite sibling-"

"-We _both_ know that's not true."

Cassandra snorted, "I just have some shopping I need done, and I…" She sighed, "I actually wanted to spend some time with you, okay? Now you don't live at the manor anymore you're actually… you're actually pretty cool. Okay? Are you happy now? You've stripped away my pride and now I've told you the shameful truth. Will you just shut up and take my offer? Because you know Vesper has wanted you to get with Vex from day one and if she catches wind of this and you don't end up dating her, she might just kill you."

Percy sat silently with a bemused expression, "I'm sorry… I didn't quite hear the bit in the middle… what did you say? Now that I've left the manor I'm actually quite…" he trailed off and looked at Cassandra expectantly.

" **Cool.** You have great friends who don't just hang around you because you have money and your parents are famous and… I think you're a really good guy, now that you're not being a total pompous asshole all the time. You're actually one of the reasons why I'm going to Vasselheim. I'd like to know exactly who I am without all of the ridiculousness of our family. Now could you stop being a shit for four seconds and tell me whether or not you'll hang out with me today?" Cassandra's cheeks were bright red at this point and she didn't dare to meet Percy's eyes as she finished her rushed admission of admiration.

"Alright, Cass. We can 'hang' but you have to give me some advice too, okay?" Percy smiled at his sister and for once, Cassandra felt like there weren't any problems between them.

 

***

 

"Shit! _Fuck! **Dammit!**_ Keyleth are you okay?" Vex gently turned Keyleth over onto their back, as she fumbled through her pockets for a handkerchief or _anything_ she could use to put pressure on the wound.

Keyleth groaned in response to Vex's worry and said something Vex couldn't quite hear in a language that definitely wasn't Common.

"What did you do that for?" Keyleth said, their voice was part mumble and part whine, they rubbed their eyes and looked up at the person who had tackled them, when they recognised Vex looking down at them, they felt a crushing weight on their chest and their stomach tighten. Vex's lips were moving, saying something Keyleth couldn't hear over the ringing in their ears, and all they could think about was how much they wanted to touch her perfect lips.

 _'How do two people so pretty manage to find each other and live together. It's just so statistically unlikely,'_ Keyleth thought as they tried to lift their head, the ringing subsided after a few seconds, and they looked up to see Vex giving them a wry smirk.

"Well I wouldn't say Percy's **that** pretty, but I am stunning so I probably make him look more attractive with my very presence," Vex said with a wink, finally finding a scrap of cloth and placing it on the four inch long cut on their head.

"I… I didn't mean to say that out loud," Keyleth stuttered, their eyes filled with panic, _'I didn't mean to say that. Oh gods, she's going to think I'm a freak now.'_

"I figured, darling," she smiled as she pulled them up to their feet, still holding the flannel to their wound, "Besides, you were paying me a compliment. Who could take offense to that?"

Keyleth was so dumbfounded by the first part of Vex's sentence that they only half heard the second one, _'Darling… she called me darling.'_ Their chest hurt, and it wasn't from the fall, _'It doesn't mean anything. It_ ** _can't_** _mean anything.'_ They told themselves, _'It's like when waitresses do it… she just feels bad for knocking me over.'_ They felt tears well up in their eyes and as a rush of hatred made their stomach tighten, _'It's not like anyone would ever like_ ** _me_** _anyway.'_

"Are you alright?" Vex asked, her well-meaning concern only making things worse.

Keyleth rubbed at their eyes, and pushed Vex's hand away, holding the makeshift bandage themselves, "I'm fine, my head just hurts." They had a whole lot of words that they wanted to add to the end of that sentence, but they thought better of it, Vex didn't want to hear about how pathetic they felt.

"Yeah, let's get that bandaged up, I have some band-aids in my bag, come with me," Vex took Keyleth's hand (her heart flittering as she did so) and led them over to her bike, where she pulled out her miniature first aid kit.

 _'Alright Keyleth, stop being a miserable sap for four minutes of your life, and be nice to the very lovely and_ **_incredibly_ ** _pretty lady who wants to tend to your wounds.'_

Once the blood had been wiped off, it was apparent that the scratch wasn't half as bad as it looked, Vex relaxed, she was worried that she had caused permanent damage to her favourite vet, it took only a few moments (and a lot of flinching from Keyleth) before their head wound was bandaged and pain killers had been administered. Vex almost let them part ways, before her impulses got the better of her and she blurted out something that she probably shouldn't have.

"Do you want to- to, um… go out? With me?" As soon as she said the words, Keyleth's jaw dropped, and Vex didn't have time to analyse whether it was good shock or bad shock, so she stammered out a half-baked second section to the sentence, "-For coffee! To make it up to you! Because I tackled you and everything."

Vex could practically hear her brother making fun of her, _'Smooth save stumpy.'_

Keyleth's mouth closed, they weren't sure if they felt disappointment or relief that it wasn't necessarily a romantic engagement they had to deal with. "Oh, uh, sure! I'd love to!" Keyleth wondered whether their immediate agreement looked too desperate, but they also hadn't gone for coffee with anyone who wasn't a coworker or an ex for over a year, so they'd take their chances with looking needy rather than missing an opportunity.

Vex smiled and lobbed Keyleth a helmet (which they didn't quite catch) before mounting her bike and gesturing to her companion to join her.

 

***

 

"You really like both of them, don't you?" Cassandra said, her voice filled with wonder, the concept of Percy having quantifiable feelings that weren't rage and misery was new to her, but she would be glad if her brother found the happiness that was completely within his grasp if he just _took it._ "Everything you say about them, the way you honest-to-Pelor **smile** when you think about the two of them… You're actually in love with these two."

"What's so weird about me smiling?" Percy said, he chose his tone carefully, he was suspicious about what his sister meant, but he didn't want to start a fight.

"Because dear brother, you never did it before them!" Cassandra said with a laugh.

"That’s **_so_** not true!" He denied, struggling to keep his voice down, "I smile all the time!" He said through gritted teeth, making his rushed words into a hiss.

"You **_so_** do **not"** Cassandra replied in a whisper that he knew would have been a squeal had they not been in a public place. "Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third does _not_ smile. He smirks. He chuckles. Once in a while he might even grin deviously. But you never smile. Except around Vex, and from the sounds of things, this Keyleth too."

Silence fell between them, he had no idea what to say. _'She's right, of course. Cassandra's always right.'_

"Okay, so we've established that I love them _both_. So now what the hell do I do about it?" He said, sounding so hopeless it made Cassandra feel bad for the voodoo doll she still kept in her wardrobe.

"Honestly… I don't know. I'd tell you to not be a chicken and to do something about it, but-" Her eyes bulged as she looked at something over his right shoulder, "Hide!" Cassandra tugged him by the collar and ducked down as Keyleth and Vex passed right by their table and to the front door of the coffee shop.

As they paid their bill, Cassandra looked over at Percy's crushes, "So that's what Keyleth looks like. They're cute. I like their dress."

"Yeah that's great Cass," Percy said in a rushed whisper, "But I really don't feel like embarrassing myself right now so maybe we'll just wait them out and then leave. Sound good." 

"It sounds like a great idea! But I have a better one."

 

***

 

The trip to the café was short but cold, Keyleth already felt awkward enough around Vex without having their arms wrapped around her, especially seeing how she was someone who was virtually a stranger to them, (it didn't help that Vex was a virtual stranger with _really great abs,_ abs that Keyleth could feel _all too well_ at that moment). Even with all of Keyleth's willpower, they felt themselves subconsciously wrapping their arms even tighter around her, they hoped that the shivering would reassure Vex that it wasn't them trying to feel her up.

Even after they'd ordered their drinks and taken their seats, Keyleth was still shaking, just ever so slightly, it was like their bones were humming from the sheer thrill of having touched Vex, they tried to put it out of their mind and just enjoy a pleasant conversation with her, but it was hard when all they could think about was putting their hands around her again.

"Perc and I come here all the time, the food's pretty average, but they let dogs in and they do a hell of a cappuccino so it's worth it," Vex chose not to mention that the reason why she started coming to this particular café was because they let her and Vax basically lived there back when they were homeless.

They chatted for a while about nothing in particular, just regular small talk, both of them trying to ignore how franticly their hearts were beating if their hands got even remotely close to one another. Keyleth felt themselves stumble over their words, they honestly had no clue what to say to Vex that wouldn't sound cheesy or ridiculous, and that wouldn't be too personal, but when their initial small talk pool was running out, they could feel their heart beating in their throat.

"So… what's your family like?" They blurted out, Vex's raised an eyebrow at their rapid topic change, and Keyleth realised that they had been so worried about running out of conversation that they had interrupted her, "Oh, sorry. I was listening, but I didn't-"

"It's okay Keyleth, I forgive you. I mean, it's not like you gave me a concussion or anything," Vex laughed at her own joke, trying to delay talking about her family for as long as possible.

 _'I don't want to lie, but I doubt they want to hear about my sob-story either.'_ Vex thought, staring at her scones _, 'I wish my family was normal so I didn't have this problem.'_

"Well, my brother lives in the city at the moment, but he and his boyfriend are going to move up to Westruun soon. I'll miss him, but at least he'll probably be able to stay out of trouble up there," Vex said, with a smile that Keyleth could see hid some pain. "My father lives up in Syngorn with my little sister… well half-sister but what does that really matter…" Vex realised how quickly she was speaking and took a deep breath before continuing. "And my mother died about… seven years ago now."

"Oh," Keyleth said, their voice monotone, "Same." As soon as the words left their mouth, they smacked their palm to their forehead, "Shit, sorry. I know that sounded dismissive. I just meant… My mum has been 'missing' since I was nineteen," The air quotes and the sour look in their eyes were familiar, and Vex wanted to wrap her arms around her, "So I get that it's hard." Keyleth gave her a sad smile, "Sorry, I know the books always say not to bring up stuff that's too heavy on the first-" they stopped abruptly, "-the first… coffee date."

Vex laughed, "I live with a total goth and my brother is the most emo human being on the entire planet, you're a little ball of sunshine, don't worry," She touched their hand, and she wondered how one person could feel so warm, "I'm happy to talk about stuff, like this… wait, what books?"

Keyleth, who had just regained their usual complexion after their last embarrassing outburst, turned a shade of red that Vex had never seen before, "Self… help books? Like for talking and stuff?" Their confession was almost a whisper, and Vex had to lean in to hear that they were talking at all, which sent beautiful tingles down her spine, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not really great at talking to people," They choked out a laugh before returning to their coffee.

"I think you're better than you think you are," Vex said, her hand still on theirs, they locked eyes with her for a moment, and all Vex could think about was that if she leant in for a kiss, they would probably accept.

 _'Still, best not to take my chances. Plus I think it would kill Percy if I did.'_ she thought as she removed her hand and began attacking her scones, she ate greedily until there was nothing but scattered crumbs left on her plate, it was around then that she noticed that Keyleth hadn't touched their food. _'Don't nag them. They're probably just not hungry, but still…'_ her eyes scanned their thin arms, their hollow cheeks and their tired eyes, _'None of your business, Vex. Don't push it. Don't ask. You're not their girlfriend (no matter how much you want to be).'_

Keyleth noticed Vex was staring at them, they gave her a nervous smile, "Uh, hey? You okay?"

Vex nodded, "Oh, I'm just tired dear. Percy and I were up late last night, we got a bit drunk to be honest," Vex replied, her confident smile back in full force.

They picked at the top of their muffin, taking the excuse to do something with their hands, "Can I ask you a question?" Vex nodded, her eyes glimmering, "Are you and Percy… Together?"

Vex choked on the remains of her coffee, and spluttered out a response (drawing the attention of a nearby table as she did so), "No! What- what would give you that idea?"

Keyleth recoiled from her companion's loud protests, "Well I mean… you act like it," they said, their voice a cautious whisper, "Whenever you two are with each other you act like an old married couple, and I just- Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed." Vex noted the way they shrunk in on themselves, their shoulders pulling forward as a makeshift shield, and she felt bad for her hasty (and loud) response.

"Hey, it's fine." Vex put her hand on Keyleth's again and tried not to react when they jumped out of their skin at the contact.

"I mean, I'm certainly not appalled by the suggestion, as you said earlier, Percy is quite handsome." Vex trailed off and looked at her watch, "Speaking of the devil, if I don't get home and convince him to eat something, he'll probably starve himself until dinner… do you want to take your muffin for the road?" Keyleth nodded, although their stomach still felt like it was tied in knots.

Keyleth looked into Vex's beautiful almond eyes, "I like you Vex'ahlia. I know that's a weird thing to say out of the blue… but I think you're really nice and I hope we could be friends," they spoke, not slowly,  but _deliberately_ , trying for once, to not just rush through something they felt was embarrassing. 

"Darling, we **are** friends." Vex replied, grinning at them, "But if we're going that far, do you think I could get your number? I mean, I don't think it would be appropriate to call up your practice every time I wanted to talk."

"Uhhh… yeah."

 _'"UH YEAH_ ** _?" That's_** _your response to this beautiful woman asking for your number? You couldn't even come up with a sexy smart joke or something?!'_ Keyleth's thoughts were a veritable scream.

Vex didn't seem to notice any of the internal screeching their companion was undergoing, and instead flashed a brilliant smile and said, "Okay, cool! Do you want to just write it down or something?"Keyleth stared at Vex as she pulled a napkin from the dispenser with a fluidity that they would have thought impossible.

 _'I must be concussed_ ,' they thought, as they saw a faint glow around Vex's head, although her being an angel would explain how she was so beautiful. Keyleth took the napkin from her angelic coffee date and immediately scribbled down their number. Vex smiled as she picked up the paper she had given them, she had seen Doctor's handwriting before, but somehow veterinarians were even worse.

"Well, then. Shall we go up to pay?"

 

***

 

"Cass I don't like this." Percy said, his voice dark and serious as he whispered to his sister, who was still dragging him up to the counter.

"I don't care. You said you'd do anything I said for the day and I command you to go up to them and at least _try_ to interact," They were getting closer to the front counted with every word and soon Cassandra had to pull her brother upright and push him towards his two infatuations. Percy winced in pain as she shoved him into the countertop, both Vex and Keyleth looked at him in alarm, before Cass stepped in front of him and offered Keyleth her hand. "Hello there, my name is Cassandra Johanna von Musel Klossowski de Rolo, and you must be Doctor Keyleth Ashari, I've heard so much about you."

Keyleth took Cassandra's hand, and shook it gently, "Nice to meet you, Cassandra. It's nice to meet a member of Percy's family… wait a second. You played Emilia on _Shield of Infinity_ didn't you?"

Cassandra looked like she had just bitten into a particularly sour lemon, "Yes, it was an _interesting_ experience. Of course now everywhere I look online there's people ' **shipping'** my character with people thrice her age, but I suppose that's to be expected."

 "Oh gods, I loved that show but the fans are trash. Emilia deserved so much better than what she got. I mean she was _fifteen_ for crying out loud, but you can still find ten page analyses about how everything that happened was her fault." Keyleth's eyes had lit up like a Winterscrest tree and they talked with Cassandra for a good two minutes while Vex made fun of Percy with her eyes even as he nursed his side.

"Did you know Cassandra wasn't even old enough to _watch_ the show while she was filming… oh wait, I _forgot_. You're **still** not old enough to watch it, right?" As soon as the words left Percy's mouth, Cassandra gave him a look that made him shiver.

 _'I bet her voodoo doll of me is going to pay for me saying that.'_ He thought as his sister collected himself, still glaring across at him.

"But regardless, we came over here because my _dear brother_ wanted to talk to the two of you. So how about I reconcile our respective bills and you lot can go outside," her smile was made of daggers as she gave Percy one final look before pushing him away from the counter.

"We best do as _Lady Cassandra_ says," Percy said, putting his hands on the other two's shoulders and led them out the doors.

As soon as they had left, Vex turned to him and laughed her head off, "She is going to actually kill you for that."

"No she's not. See, she confessed something to me today. She thinks I'm… cool." Percy's chest puffed out with pride, "I'm her cool brother now! She'd never kill me!"

Keyleth chuckled, "You know, it's times like this where I'm simultaneously glad and disappointed that I don't have siblings."

"Be glad, good doctor. For I come from a family of _seven_ and it is a total disaster, you stop hating each other eventually, I'm actually friends with Vesper and Julius now, but I wouldn't wish siblings on anyone." Percy said, and after the last few words had hung in the air for a few seconds, he realised his left hand was still wrapped around Keyleth's shoulder, and his right hand was in Vex's, he tried to put it out of his head, but after he'd noticed, he couldn't _not_ notice.

 _'Well neither of them have pulled away, so I guess I should just stay like this.'_ He thought as Vex and Keyleth told him about how their day had gone, _'Gods above and below, I wish I knew the proper protocol for this situation… surely I could find_ something _on what to do, somewhere.'_

Cassandra came out a few moments later and the four of them split up, Cassandra, Percy and Vex going back to their apartment, and Keyleth back to their home, all of them trying not to think about exactly how messed up their entire situation was, but all of them felt happier than they did when the day started.


	3. Night Out

Steel wool pulled at their fingertips, scraping almost as hard on their skin as it did the table beneath, but it was the last room they had to clean, and after that all that was left to do was say goodnight to the animals in holding, turn off the lights and go home. Of course, there was no actual _reason_ why Keyleth had to scrub everything down, their practise had a cleaner, and a good one at that, but they didn't want to be alone with their thoughts at the moment, and it was better to be doing something productive than to sit in bed agonising over it like they did when they were in a similar situation with Kash, only five years prior.

The thing Keyleth wanted to avoid was an unanswered text, they hadn't checked their phone all day but the night before they had sent their crushes a message that said: _"Hey guys, we haven't seen each other in ages. Do you want to go out for drinks sometime? :)"_ Which felt like a reasonable thing to say at the time, after all, Keyleth hadn't seen Percy and Vex'ahlia for over a month now, and even though they'd been messaging each other almost daily, Keyleth longed to see Vex's glittering eyes and Percy's wry grin, but after they didn't get an instantaneous response to their impulsive 3am text, they spiralled into a total freak-out

So they scrubbed, they knew it was ridiculous, and that their therapist would say that it was textbook avoidance, but Keyleth didn't know how else to deal with things like this. Eventually though, all their distractions and chores were done, and Keyleth had no choice but to look at their phone, which had received three messages since they had last checked.

 _"Sounds good to me! I'll check with Perc! :D"_ Vex had sent, shortly followed by, _"UPDATE: He's passed out on the couch, so I'm saying yes for him."_ The third message of a picture of Percy's sleeping form, with Orthax sitting on his tussled hair and Trinket asleep on his chest, Vex was in the foreground, grinning from ear to ear.

A rush of relief blossomed in their chest and they felt themselves mirroring Vex's gleeful expression as they messaged her back to schedule a day that was good for both of them. By the time they'd gotten home, said goodnight to their father and crawled into bed, the night out was already planned and Vex was talking about her day and Percy's new project (and how she was worried that he was going a little manic over it). They loved listening to her talk about all these things, she had a keen eye for detail and saw things that others overlooked, and her perspective was always interesting to hear. They chatted for about half an hour, and Keyleth didn't even get a chance to say goodnight before they drifted asleep.

 

***

 

"Come the fuck on!" Vex whispered as she discarded her _thirteenth_ shirt, she had rejected the others for being too plain, or too cheap or too _ripped._ She cursed herself and her poor taste in fashion (and that she chose the most hazardous job in regards to keeping clothing intact possible). "All I want to do is look like someone who hasn't been homeless for half their life so I can impress the people I like! Okay! Why is that so hard?" Her words were a hiss and she desperately hoped that Percy couldn't hear her in the next room.

Percy couldn't hear a word Vex was saying, in fact even if she was yelling, he might not be able to hear as he was having a similar freak out, he didn't really have any items of clothing that weren't three piece suits and pyjamas with butt flaps, and he honestly didn't know which would be more embarrassing to wear out to a club.

"All I want is to not look like a complete and utter _git_ for the first time in my life. That honestly shouldn't be that hard… unless I _am_ a complete and utter git, in that case I guess I have no choice," He said with a sigh as he resigned himself to wearing his butt flap pyjamas before he remembered the clothes Vex had bought him a few days ago, _'So that you can look like one of us commoners once and a while,'_ she said, and tonight he would need to do just that.

After almost an hour of agonising in their separate rooms, Vex and Percy met up in the lounge room, had a coffee and tried to hide how nervous they were from the other before they went to pick up Keyleth.

 

***

 

Their copper hair reflected the purple neon sign from the nearby alleyway, his eyes traced every feature of their face, their lips had the perfect cupid's bow, it took all of Percy's self-control to not kiss them right now. Percy found himself distracted from his heart-stricken analysis of their stunning face by Keyleth's shivering. They weren't wearing enough clothes, their shoulders and midriff were exposed and Percy silently wondered whether they knew how to cover up their torso… not that he wasn't enjoying the view of course, but he would feel much less guilty for appreciating how attractive Keyleth was if they were wearing a big fuzzy sweater and not shaking like a leaf. 

 He smiled, even when they were just trying to keep themselves warm, they were still one of the most beautiful people he had even seen, but still, it wasn't polite for a gentleman to allow someone to freeze just because you thought they were gorgeous. He stepped behind them, took off his jacket and put it around their shoulders, he tried to pull his hands away within a reasonable period of time, but his fingers lingered around their shoulders, and without any conscious decision on his part, he ran his hand across their collarbones, and softly traced their jaw. Keyleth stared up at Percy, and leant into his touch. The pair stood there for a few moments, Percy cupping Keyleth's face before they both froze as they both heard splattering footsteps from around the corner, and a familiar voice called out to the pair of them.

"Hey guys! Sorry about that, the cab driver didn't have the right change! You two aren't having fun without me are you?" Vex's bright smile and wild hair stood out even underneath her raincoat and hood, she ran up to the pair of them and put them both in the biggest hug possible, sending the pair into a mild state of shock.

Keyleth felt their heart skip a beat, _'How can two people smell so good?! …wait is that creepy? I'm just breathing through my nose, I'm not_ trying _to smell them.'_ They were so stuck in their thoughts that it took Percy and Vex taking each one of their hands and **pulling** to get them to follow. Keyleth put their head on Percy's shoulder as they walked in, it was hard to explain, but they didn't want to stop touching either of them, they entangled their fingers with Vex's and hoped that they weren't being too weird.

They took seats near the bar and ordered some fries as a feeble attempt to prevent themselves from getting _too_ drunk.

"So shall we start with some cocktails? I know Percy loves Strawberry Sunrises, what do you like darling?" Vex asked, and Keyleth was so distracted by the way the lights in the bar were playing with her dark eyes that they couldn't get enough air in their lungs to respond for a few seconds.

"I don't really mind! I don't drink often so whatever is good for me," Keyleth beamed at her and Vex felt her heart swell.

"Alright, so three girly drinks for starters then!" Vex said, as she reached for her wallet, but before she could run off to the bar to order, Percy grabbed her wrist.

"Dear, what exactly are you doing?" He asked, his voice dark, Vex gave him a panicked look and her eyes darted to Keyleth, whose face was a mask of horror and confusion, Percy pulled Vex back down to her seat and gave Vex a stern look, "Let me use my obscene amount of money, okay?"

Vex leant across the table to whisper in Keyleth's ear, "He never lets me pay, the bastard." Having her face next to Keyleth's was the most exquisite agony Vex had ever experienced, being that close to them, feeling their hair against her cheek, being surrounded by the scent of wild flowers and mountain air, and as she pulled back, she wanted to scream at herself for letting it all go.

"Oh while he's gone and I'm thinking about it, Percy's big brother and sister are planning a party for him! Do you want to go? It's next week so I understand if short notice is a problem, but I'm sure he'd love to have you there," Vex realised she was babbling and shoved a fry in her mouth to stop herself from speaking anymore.

"Uh sure! If you think he'll want me there…" Keyleth felt themselves getting nervous about the party even then, they'd met _one_ member of the de Rolo family, but seeing all of them there at once was daunting to say the least.

"I'm sure he will," Vex put her hand on top of Keyleth's, "Besides, we're basically his only friends so I'm sure I can convince Julie and Vesp to give you an invite!"

"What's this about me having no friends?" Percy asked, he had returned with a drinks and a smile that had only faltered when he overheard their conversation.

"Oh we're just talking about your surprise party!" Vex replied, there was no reason to lie to him, he had worked out what his siblings were doing over a month ago, she looked him up and down and furrowed her brow, "You look like the cat that got the canary, Percival. What's made you so happy?"

His smile continued, despite the chiding from his roommate, "I'm just happy to be here with you two, is that so odd? …and also Lilith is serving tonight…"

"I swear you're the only person in the world who is _ecstatic_ to see their ex," Vex chuckled, "Although, I guess if you hadn't dated Lilith, and I hadn't dated Zahra, **we** never would have met, would we?"

Keyleth began slurping down their drink, "I feel like there's a bit of a story here that I'm not entirely caught up on. Who are these people?"

Percy and Vex began explaining the long and complicated story of how they met, and despite the fact that they assured them that there was no exaggeration involved, Keyleth knew that this was a very well-rehearsed lie and that the original tale was nowhere near as glamorous. By the time they had finished chronicling their first encounter, they were all several drinks in and working their way towards complete and utter drunkenness.

"We should dance!" Keyleth declared, their words were already slurring and Vex silently wondered what a mess they would be after another hour.

"I can't even explain how much I am _not_ going to dance," Percy replied, his pompous accent thickening with every bit of alcohol he consumed.

"You're so incredibly **boring** Percy! Where's your sense of adventure?" Keyleth gave him a little punch on the shoulder.

"How dare you Keyleth!" Vex replied, her voice was practically dripping with sarcasm, "Percy's not dancing because he's a clumsy and he'll make a dick of himself, not because he's boring."

Keyleth perked up at this, and leaned in towards Vex, "Oh, so you're saying that he's a coward, well that makes so much more sense-"

"-I hate you both, I just want you to know that." Percy replied, finishing the last of his drink with as pointedly as it's possible to drink a Cosmopolitan, before standing up and offering Keyleth his hand.

"D'aww, he told you he hates you, he really does like you Key!" Vex said, grinning at Percy.

Keyleth took his hand and they made their way across the room… this was of course when they discovered that Keyleth was a total lightweight and was almost falling over by the time they made it there which Percy was almost thankful for, as it distracted from the fact that he really can't dance. Well he was grateful for them acting like a distraction and also for the way they clung onto him and made him slow dance despite how inappropriate it was for the setting. After about five minutes, he traded Keyleth off to Vex, who despite being almost a full foot shorter than them, managed to handle taking the lead of someone who was essentially a very drunk gazelle.

After about ten minutes of clumsily dancing with their inebriated friend, the group decided to head back to their table, and upon seeing it had been taken during their absence, chose to go on their way and hope that Keyleth could stand long enough for their cab to get there.

"Hey guys?" Keyleth mumbled, their head was against Percy's shoulder, they were still swaying, and Percy wondered if they still thought they were dancing, "I love you two... you're my bestest friends..."

"Right back at you dear," Vex said, as she stroked their hair, "Now let's get you home. Well, back to  _our_ home at least." 

 

***

 

When Vex awoke, her eyes were bleary and she could barely see, but she knew from the warmth surrounding her that for the second time in recent history, she had been the first to wake up in a pile of people. She was still essentially sitting in Percy's lap and his hand was still entangled with hers and she had her arm around Keyleth, holding them to her neck, she stroked their hair and gave his hand a squeeze as she decided whether or not she had the heart to move the two of them so that she could get up. Keyleth wriggled in her arms to get closer to her, and she obliged, holding them tight, Vex wished she could stay like that forever, but already her stomach was grumbling and she could hear the flutter of wings drawing closer… and she knew she would have to give up her inhibition free sleeping companions.

She had only wriggled a little bit when she heard a soft voice that made her legs weak even when she wasn't standing,  "I've already fed them," Percy said, his voice shaking slightly, "Please… don't leave…"

Vex stammered, her mind was racing, conjuring up thousands of things to say but stopping short of actually voicing them, in the end, she could only say, "Alright. I'll stay."

"Thank you dear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I got writer's blocked. Hopefully next chapter will be more prompt, thanks for bearing with me!


	4. You Two Make Everything Better

"Happy Birthday!" Percy groaned as he awoke to the happy faces and loud voices of Keyleth and Vex.

"I want you both to know that I like you very much and while I'm grateful that you remembered my birthday… but you are being _far_ too happy for so early in the morning," He said, a small smile on his lips as he pulled the covers back over his head.

"It's like… eleven thirty Percy," Keyleth replied, jumping on the bed twice before lying down on top of the covers next to him, "But you're the birthday boy, so I guess you know best." They touched his hair, long fingers stroking the pale bird's nest he called a hair style for a fleeting moment before they thought better of themselves and pulled away.

Percy longed for their hand back on his head, but knew he couldn't ask that of them without revealing his pathetic crush on them, so he remained silent, and instead tried to cuddle up to them as subtly as possible. He clearly wasn't as sneaky as he wanted to be because Vex raised an eyebrow at him and snorted before covering it up as a cough, it was the most eye contact she had made with him for over a fortnight. Ever since he impulsively asked her to stay beside him after their night out, he wondered whether he had ruined everything by being too forthright.

Not that Keyleth seemed to notice any awkwardness between them, but that was just how Keyleth was, hyperaware to their own perceived faults and blissfully ignorant to those of others, especially when it came to people that they liked.

"So what do you want to do today? Before your _surprise_ party of course," Vex asked, still quietly chuckling at how obvious he was being with Keyleth.

"Is staying in bed an option?" He replied, his voice half grumble, half whine.

" **No.** " Keyleth and Vex said simultaneously.

 "We've tried to wake you up like four times already Percy!" Keyleth said, putting on their best pout, he knew they didn't _actually_ care, but they had the perfect puppy-dog look and he immediately felt so guilty that he got up and shooed the pair of them out of the room so that he could dress properly. After putting on his _least_ crumpled suit (he still hadn't found a good dry cleaners near their apartment, or at least that was what he told Vex, in reality he thought that if he never left the house he didn't really care what he looked like), and walked out the door, only to almost walk straight into his friends.

"You couldn't have walked a little further out into the hall guys?" He said, raising a single eyebrow to compound his point.

"Nope!" Vex replied cheerfully, "Keyleth and I have been waiting for three hours for you to get up and I wanted to make sure you didn't go straight back to bed."

"Oh." Heat flooded his cheeks and knew he must have turned very pink, "I'm sorry dear…"

"I forgive you." She said, turning her nose up to the sky in the most over-dramatic way possible, "But only because it's your birthday," Vex winked at him to ensure that he wouldn't take her seriously, "Now really, what do you want to do?"

Percy pondered that for a moment, before declaring, "Let's play… Hearts."

"Gods, you _want_ us to hate you don't you?"

 

***

 

"I've never done this before, so be gentle okay?" Keyleth said, struggling with the amount of cards in their hand.

"Ha, dirty," Vex said, she'd already organised her suits and had passed her three cards to Percy, "Now I went a little bit easy on you because you're the birthday boy."

"I would bet my bird that that is **completely** false," He replied without taking his eyes off of his cards, in response to this statement, Orthax gave an unholy screech from the next room. "Oh calm down, you rowdy bastard! It's an expression!" Percy yelled over his shoulder, then rolled his eyes and muttered, "…silly boy."

"He just doesn't want you to abandon him- wait is it the Queen of Spades or the Queen of Clubs that's worth 13?" Keyleth said, they started talking with a smile, but that faded as they got more and more confused.

"Spades." Percy said, matter-of-fact, Keyleth nodded in response and put their last card down to pass to Vex, who grinned upon picking it up, "And Orthax wouldn't even care if I died as long as he could eat my body," Percy replied with a smile, "We keep each other sane though… well saner than we'd be without each other at least."

"You both remember how he was when we first got him, you two are the reasons why that 'rowdy bastard' is still alive and he knows it," Vex said, starting the first hand, "He'd do anything for you, and probably Keyleth too if they asked nicely enough."

"I mean sure, but he's no Trinket," Percy replied with a shrug as he moved the first pile of cards off to the side, "Your lead Keyleth."

Keyleth threw down a card with an enthusiasm that was contagious, all of them had gotten past their 'in love with every little thing you do' phase, but it would always be hard to see them smile without getting caught up in it. Of course the charm of their enthusiasm wore off on Percy after he realised that he would have no other option but to play the Queen of Spades and wear the points.

"Know that I say this with as much admiration and _adoration_ possible; you're a bastard and I hate you," Percy sighed.

They giggled and gave Vex a mischievous glance that made her heart skip a beat, "That means I'm playing the game right, right?"

Vex laughed and gave them an affectionate look that sent a pleasant shiver down Keyleth's spine, "Yes, that means you did very well."

Hours passed so quickly that they were all surprised when the sun started to go down, Percy felt his heart ache at the thought of separating from the two of them, even though they'd see each other again that night. He knew it was pathetic but it felt like the two of them were his lungs and heart, and he couldn't quite live without them anymore.

 _'I'm such an idiot. I've fallen so far for people who will never see me the same way… Honestly I'm not good enough for either of them.'_ He was stuck in his own thoughts and could do nothing but stare at the ceiling while Keyleth and Vex collected their coats, joking about running an important errand.

  _'What makes you think you're worth anyone's time?'_ A dark voice said at the back of his mind, he tried to push it away but he knew it was clawing its way back to the front, _'You're damaged Percival. Even your own family said so… how many breakdowns do you think Vex can handle? Haven't you pushed her far enough already? And Keyleth… do you really think they-'_

"Percy! You're not even _pretending_ to play along with our 'you totally don't have a surprise party on later' gag!" Keyleth said with a childish expression, breaking him out of his misery fuelled reverie.

Vex on the other hand, was frozen, her hand still on Keyleth's back as she squinted slightly, and Percy could feel her piercing gaze on him, "Hey, are you gonna be okay while we're gone? I promise, tonight won't be as bad as you think it is." Her voice was gentle, and he felt himself melt under the compassion present in her tone.

"No, yeah… I'll be fine, don't worry about me," He smiled, and even though he knew it hadn't reach his eyes, he hoped it would be enough to postpone her line of questioning, "I was just thinking about all the money my parents and siblings have wasted on this sordid affair."

"Alright. If you're sure…" Vex shrugged her coat on and even though he could tell she didn't buy it, she didn't press further and gave Percy an encouraging smile before walking Keyleth out.

The cool winter air hugged around them as they walked to Keyleth's car, but Keyleth couldn't quite shake a feeling in their gut, even as they started driving back to their house, "Hey Vex?" Keyleth began, Vex hummed in acknowledgement as they continued, "How do you do that thing you do?"

"What?" Vex asked, legitimately puzzled, turning her attention from the passenger seat window to Keyleth, "You're going to need to give me a little more to go on here darling.."

"That _thing._ Where you look at someone and know all their darkest secrets, like what you did with Percy earlier, how do you do it?"

Vex shrugged, "I've known Perc for a while now, I know when he's feeling troubled… and _that_ was him feeling pretty low. He's been the black sheep in his family for so long, and a family like that has a reputation to protect, and they still judge him for his last blowout, so he's probably a bit stressed about tonight."

They hummed quietly, thinking about what Vex had just told them, "I wish I could read people like that," They laughed under their breath, "It might help me know what people think of me, which would probably stop me from assuming everybody hates me whenever I say anything."

"You'd think that wouldn't you? But I have no clue what anyone thinks of _me,_ I'm good at reading people's moods I guess," Vex stared out at the city as it passed her by, and hoped that for _once_ the de Rolo family would exceed her incredibly low expectations of them and treat her roommate right, if only for one night.

 

***

 

Percy was frozen, one hand was wrapped around the door handle, the other was shaking at his side, he knew what was in the room, a whole chorus of people who would be excited and yell and have a good time and the thought of it made him sick to his stomach. He knew it couldn't possibly be as bad as he imagined at this point, but the thought of having to spend a whole night interacting with his family, and probably his _extended_ family at that… made him wish that he had stayed home.

 _'You can't run away though. Vex and Keyleth are trapped in the room with them, if you leave now they'll probably eat the two of them alive.'_ He smiled, his little joke combined with the thought of seeing his friends made him feel better about the whole situation, _'I mean, if nothing else, I can say a couple of niceties to my family and hang out with them all night. It will be fine Percival. Just do it.'_

Encouraged by this, he opened the door and was greeted with exactly what he expected, a chorus of people yelling 'surprise'. He pretended to be shocked, (not that his act fooled any of his siblings) and spent the next fifteen minutes greeting people he hadn't seen since his eighteenth birthday, after the initial courtesies were presented, family members he _actually recognised_ approached him. Oliver and Whitney gave him a quick joke and a hug (the twins were the only siblings that hugged in their entire family) before running off to grab some cake, Lutwig barely approached him, he had been out of the house for a long time, and his youngest brother's memory was short, at this point they were virtual strangers.

Julius presented the family's gift, an incredibly expensive wristwatch, and Vesper pestered him about how he was liking the party so far. There was only one sibling who hadn't talked to him yet, and just as Cassandra had collected herself enough to approach him, Percy felt his heart sink as she was interrupted by their parents.

"Percival, it's good to see you," Johanna gave him a small smile and Percy considered seeing his parents again might actually be a good thing, that was of course until her face fell and she scowled, "Of course it would be even better if we saw you more than _once_ every **five** years."

"Yes Percival, we haven't seen you for so long. If not for your siblings, you could be dead for all we knew!" Frederick said, if it weren't for the small smirk on his lips and the fact that his father had never been one to scold, Percy would have taken it seriously.

"I'm sorry. I've been busy with... things…" Percy trailed off, there was no good excuse, he had avoided his parents like the plague.

"For five years?" Johanna replied, "My darling boy, I know that you're ambitious and clever, and I admire that about you, but I doubt that's kept you occupied for the last _five_ years."

"Well it would have if it were up to him," Vex interjected, walking up to Percy and hooking her elbow around his, "He'd be content to lock himself in his office until he starved to death, but I try not to let that happen." She smiled at his parents and offered them her hand, "My name is Vex'ahlia, I'm Percy's roommate. It's a pleasure to meet you."

They both shook her hand and offered meaningless but jovial greetings before Frederick was distracted by something and stared over Vex's head, "And who might this be, Percival? We don't have any redheads in the family so I assume I must be a friend of yours." There was something in his father's tone that made him worry, his parents tended to be… _forceful_ when it came to their children and their love lives.

"Oh, of course! Keyleth, come over here," Percy waved them over and they slowly walked up, standing behind Vex to hide as best as they could considering they were a foot taller than her, "Mother, father… this is Keyleth. Keyleth these are my parents Johanna and Frederick."

Keyleth gave them a shy wave and Vex felt them tremble against her back, "It's good to meet you. This... this is a lovely house." They were stammering so much that Percy wanted to take them home right now and save them from his family.

Frederick, apparently clueless to how nervous his new acquaintance was, continued with his inane banter for much longer than anyone else in the conversation wanted, and it took an interruption from his wife to get him to stop talking.

"-Oh look who just arrived dear! It's Anna. I was hoping she would come, we should go and say hello, shouldn't we?" Johanna tugged lightly on her husband's sleeve and Percy's heart stopped as he followed their gaze, and saw the one person he _never_ wanted to see again.

 

***

 

His room was just as he left it, but unfamiliar all the same, a thick blanket of dust covered everything he owned, or **used** to own, he assumed that his parents might have him arrested if he tried to take anything with him. That was the trouble with running away from all your problems… people don't necessarily want to see you when you come back. Percy traced a finger over his desk, Cassandra had carved a drawing of him into the front of his top drawer, the wood pinched his skin lightly, enough to give him a sensation to focus on without actually hurting himself.

 _'It had to be her. They_ had _to invite be the_ one _person from my past that hurt me the most.'_ He sighed, resting his temple on his left hand as his right continued his mindless cycle along his caricature. _'But I suppose it would be selfish of me to wish it was someone else, if they invited Silas or Delilah, Cassandra might be hiding up in my room.'_ He heard a soft tapping and then the creaking of the door, he smirked, _'Speak of the devil…'_

"Hey Cass," He said, glancing up towards the door, "How are you- Keyleth! Hello."

"Oh! Hi… Sorry, I was looking for a place to hide and breathe for a minute… I didn't know you were in here," They hugged their arm and bit their lip so hard that Percy thought it might come off, "Mind if I come in?" They gave him the sweetest sheepish grin and for a moment he almost forgot why he was in his room in the first place.

"Yeah, of course. I'm in here for similar reasons actually," Percy said, exhaling deeply, "The de Rolo parties can be a chaotic experience."

Keyleth nodded absentmindedly, they were examining the room, completely silent before he saw them come to a conclusion, sit down on his bed before they whispered, "It looks like something out of an interior design show, not a home."

"Yes, my parents were very… particular about how they like their children's rooms to be presented, if you went into any of my sibling's rooms you'd see the same thing... individuality causes embarrassments and marks on the family's reputation." He chuckled, "Not that the carbon copy rooms stopped me from causing a stir."

"Yeah, about that, Vex mentioned something earlier and I've been meaning to ask about what you could have _possibly_ done. Like, what could be _that_ bad?" Keyleth's voice was still hushed but there was real concern behind it.

"You really don't know?" He raised a brow, and when Keyleth shook their head, all he could do was laugh incredulously, "I just figured you didn't mention it because you were too polite!" He stood up from his desk seat and laid down on his bed next to them, before sitting up abruptly and shaking his head, "Sorry, with you sitting up and me lying down I had bad therapy flashbacks for a second there. Well, I guess I'll tell you the whole story, so do you know Anna Ripley?"

"She's the woman who turned up when you left, she didn't really say much but your parents seem to like her," Keyleth replied, shrugging slightly.

"Yeah, my parents _do_ like her, I'm pretty sure they **wouldn't** if they knew her like I do, but still I don't want to tell them because I don't know that I could deal with how they would look at me if they knew what she did to me." He was rambling, his words tumbled out too fast, and soon he was hard pressed for breath. "I mean I don't know they'd deal with the fact that they employed someone that… _**that…**_ "

Percy felt his chest tighten to the point where breathing was impossible, he couldn't say it. He could feel tears running down his cheeks and knew that he had to look like a complete and utter mess at this point. 

"Hey, hey. Calm down, if you don't want to talk about this about **her,** that's fine." They cupped his face with both hands, "Just breathe okay? Breathe."

He drew a slow shaky breath, "Alright. I'm sorry. I can't do this. I thought I could talk about it but-"

"-That's fine. That's perfect. The important thing is that you don't freak out. You came in here to calm down, remember?" They used one hand to stroke his hair while the other remained on his face, "I've got you Percy. I won't let anything happen to you, and if that _bitch_ wants to try something she can deal with **me**."

"Okay… okay… alright. Thank you- wait." He smacked his forehead lightly, "Shit. Fuck. _D_ _ammit_. I'm not being fair to you am I? You came in here because _you_ were freaking out and I just made it all about me, I'm sorry Keyleth. Do… do you want to talk?" His words were filled with shame, and he reached a hand out and placed it on their knee.

Their lips twitched upwards in an approximation of a smile, but nothing could fool him into making him think they were happy at this point, "No thanks Percy. I'm okay, really. It's just… I don't do well at parties. I thought I could just hide behind you and Vex but people _like_ Vex so she was sort of in the middle of conversations and it was too much for me." They gave him a bashful grin, "Sorry."

He wrapped an arm around their shoulders and pulled them into his chest, "No need to be sorry, this party wasn't even _my_ idea. Besides even if it was, I could never be mad at you. You've treated me kinder than I could have ever imagined Keyleth, and for that I will always be in your debt," He smiled, remembering something that might lighten the mood, "But I guess that's the kind of thing I should expect from one of my 'bestest' friends."

Keyleth groaned against his chest, "You know I had actually _forgotten_ what an ass I was that night. Thank you for reminding me."

"Not a problem. That's what I'm here for," He smirked staring up at the night sky, before his smile faded and his thoughts grew troubled once more, "Hey Keyleth… would it be alright if I kissed you?"

 _'Percy…'_ They wanted to say yes, to give their approval and finally touch him the way they had wanted to for a long time. _'But it's not right. At this point it would be taking advantage of him, and I can't do that. I can't be yet another person who uses him for their own gain.'_

"No. I'm sorry Percival… but I don't think either of us are in the right state of mind right now so I would feel uncomfortable," They looked up at him, pulling away so they could see his face.

"Ah." Percy tried not to take it to heart, they were being perfectly reasonable after all, but still he felt the sting of rejection, "I understand Keyleth. I wouldn't want you to feel bad… thank you for taking care of me."

"Always Percy, I'll always be here for you."

 

***

 

Vex stood at Percy's bedroom door, she could hear them talking, at her best guess they would be sitting on his bed, a sharp pain penetrated her chest, they were speaking with such gentle and caring tones that she felt her heart break a little because she didn't have that.

 _'Who am I jealous of, I wonder? Oh who am I kidding, I envy and desire both of them with equal measure… gods my life sounds more like a play with each passing day.'_ She thought, a small smirk on her lips as she turned back toward the party, _'No. No more hiding Vex. They're your_ friends _and you should talk to them.'_ She whirled around and pushed open the door and stepped into his room, stopping about a foot away from where they sat, "Knock knock." she said rubbing the back of her neck.

Percy gave her a small, **sad** smile, "Who's there?"

"Someone who wants to give you a hug?" She said reaching her arms out.

"That's not a very good joke," Percy responded as he stood and stepped into her embrace and wrapped his arms around her, almost collapsing into her form. "Thank you," He whispered, he sounded exhausted.

"I know this is probably a stupid question, but are you alright?" She pulled her head back off of his shoulders to look him in the eye.

He chuckled, "I am okay actually, Keyleth has been taking care of me."

Vex gave Keyleth a grateful smile, to which they gave a small awkward wave of acknowledgement, Vex could see how tired their eyes were, it had been a long night for all of them and they weren't even an hour in.

"You ready to go back to the party?" Her voice was gentle and he felt a little better, "I saw Ripley go home if that helps."

"No, I'm not really ready, but I'll go." He grinned, "I thought this night was going to be terrible, and by all rights, it should be, but you two make everything better."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your lovely comments and support!


	5. A Prior Engagement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, it was all messy plot stuff and I had to rewrite it ten times, hopefully the next chapter should be quicker!

 "Alright I'll take the bags, but Vex'ahlia, you have to know at this point that I'm really not used to this much manual labour," Percy grumbled, pretending that each bag weighed more than he did, Vex snorted in response but otherwise ignored him, as her arms were nearly filled with letters that had piled up during their week and a half away and she was trying to make it into the house without dropping any.

"You're such a drama queen," Keyleth said as they giggled at him, and grabbed two of the bags from his hands and rolling their eyes at him, before they tried to pick it up and realised _exactly_ how heavy the bag was and nearly falling over, "Jeez Louise Vex! How much did you put in this thing?" She called out, shocked beyond belief.

"I stole shampoo from the hotel on the way back! I'm not stupid."

"You're ridiculous and frugal and I love you. Oh! You have a new voice mail on your phone!" Keyleth said,

"Oh it's Vax! I'll call him back!" Vex said excitedly.

"Aren't you going to listen to the message?" They replied, furrowing their brow, Vex giggled and shrugged, she never listened to her messages, but if it made Keyleth happy she'd do it.

_"So Vex, I have spent the last week trying to pack my shit up, I swear to RQ that the amount of stuff you have_ doubles _when you try to move-- Yeah babe, I was just about to tell her don't worry! --Okay so Shaun and I are planning a going away party and you have to come because you're my sister and I love you and I haven't seen you in weeks. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you never listen to your messages so I'll just say this again when you call me back. Love you Stubby! Bye."_

Vex's grin lasted for a good thirty seconds after her brother's voice faded from the room, until a weird sense of realisation crept up on her and her face fell into the purest expression of confusion possible, she then silently called her brother back and only after three rings and a muffled 'hello?' from the other end, she spoke again.

"Who the fuck is Shaun?"

"Shaun Gilmore is my boyfriend of three years who you've met on several occasions." Vax replied, his voice losing the drowsiness and gaining annoyance.

"I didn't even know that Gilmore had a first name!"

"Yes, he's a reverse pop star," Vax drawled, "Most people have first names dear, now hold on for thirty seconds." Vex heard the phone being put down on a soft surface, then fabric moving and a quiet 'oof', before Vax came back on the line. "Sorry, he was in bed next to me and I didn't want to wake him up."

"Ew! You had se-eeex." Vex mocked as she sat down at the kitchen table, shuffling through the pile of mail that had accumulated through their absence.

Vax guffawed, "Just because _you_ haven't for over a year doesn't mean you need to be so immature about me and Shaun."

"You don't know that I haven't!" Vex replied, tossing three brightly coloured pieces of junk mail into the trash (only one of them actually made it into the bin) and focusing on the last letter addressed to her.

"I'm sorry! I just figured since you haven't dated since Zahra, and that you've been totally hung up on _Perrrrrrcy_ and now you're in love with **two** certain individuals for three mo--"

"--shut up." Vex whispered, shocked and staring at the piece of paper in her hand.

"Rude." Vax replied, taking a loud sip of coffee into the speaker as a retaliation.

"No, _not you._ This--" She shook the letter as if Vax could see what she was holding, "Fucking shit! Oh gods **_shut up!_** This is the fakest thing I have _ever_ read. Holy fuck."

Vax placed his mug down and furrowed his brow, concerned for his sister, "Vex what's wrong? You're starting to talk like me."

"Syldor Vessar **_cordially_** invites us to spend Winter's Crest at the Vessar family home in Syngorn-"

"No." Vax hissed, Vex wasn't entirely sure whether it was a statement of disbelief or his response to the invitation.

"Holy shit, he even has the address on here! Does he think we don't remember where he lives?" Vex continued, completely incredulous, "Or do you think that's a commentary on how we haven't visited him in over ten years?"

"Probably both. I think assuming that we're both unintelligent _and_ malicious is pretty spot on for Syldor," Vax drawled, "I mean, we're not going right?"

"Right. But… what if we did?"

"You have to be **fucking** kidding me Vex! What the hell would make you even _consider_ going down there?" Vax asked, confused to the point of anger.

"I know that Winter's Crest has some… _badness_ associated with it for us, but Velora's still a kid, she still thinks it's fantastic and wonderful! We have to go. Not for Syldor or anyone else, for our sister," Vex responded, she was almost begging at this point, "Now I want to go and I would really appreciate it if you went with me."

Vax sighed, "That depends, can we bring dates?"

Vex laughed, "You'll have to ask our step-mother, she's the one who sent the formal invitation, but for our sake I hope we can because Gilmore will probably eviscerate them."

"Shaun really does hates him-"

"I still can't get over it! Gilmore's first name is **_Shaun?"_**

"I'm sure I told you this!"

"You did **not!** -Oh whatever, will you go with me or not?"

"I'll go Vex. But only because I love you very much."

 

***

 

Gilmore and Vax's going away party was small but fun, they had no furniture left in their house that wasn't packed, but people sat on the boxes not marked 'FRAGILE' and drank out of the glasses that they weren't taking with them, which led to Gilmore's friend Allura stabbing herself in the lip with a chipped 'KISS THE LIBRARIAN' mug and a very tipsy Kima insisting that she had to kiss it better for ten minutes straight.

 "You're going to have to cut down the amount of trouble you get in now Vax, Westruun is a _long_ way away and I won't be able to bail you out straight away." Vex said, elbowing her brother in the ribs.

"Oh please Vex'ahlia, you know I'll always be here to break your brother out of jail," Gilmore said, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

"That's where half the worry comes in. All I can picture is you two getting a life sentence and me having to hear about it on the news."

"You wouldn't even know it was me apparently, since you didn't even know my name is _Shaun."_ He gave her a wry smile, "I must admit I was a little distraught by that when he told me." Gilmore spoke with confidence and gave her a wink so Vex knew he was joking, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for that, she met Gilmore two years before she met Percy, and she hoped that her ignorance didn't hurt him too much.

"Oh that reminds me, Devana said we're allowed to bring two guests each," Vex replied, speaking to Vax exclusively.

"Well, that's good for you, you get to bring both your _besties_ ," The emphasis elicited a scowl from Vex but no one else seemed to notice, "But I'm not going to subject anyone else to that shitshow, not anyone but the love of my life that is." He jabbed Gilmore with his elbow, grinning.

"I'll be thrilled to go, I'd love to give him a piece of my mind… anyway, enough about all of this. Let's turn our attention to the new person in the room. Keyleth what do you do? Tell me about yourself." Gilmore asked, his dark eyes gleaming and Keyleth couldn't help getting flustered.

"Well, I'm not really that exciting…" Keyleth rubbed the back of their neck, "I work at my father's veterinary clinic, which is how I met Percy and Vex…" They hesitated, trying to think of something to say and only drawing blanks, for some reason completely forgetting every even vaguely interesting thing they had ever done, "And…"

"And they do charity work with the local homeless shelter," Percy swooped in, sensing their awkwardness, Keyleth flashed them a grateful smile that made his heart skip a beat, "Also recently she got herself a cat called Minxie."

"Yeah you should see her!" Keyleth exclaimed, grabbing their phone and searching for a picture, "She looks more like a tiger than a cat I swear, but someone clearly didn't want her because they just dumped her on the street." Keyleth found the photo they were looking for and showed the others an image of a giant grey and white cat sitting on top of Vex's chest.

"Vax and I are thinking of getting a pet, but we thought we should probably wait until after we moved, do you have any advice on the subject?" Gilmore asked, batting his long eyelashes.

"Well you're both away a lot so I would probably recommend something more self-sufficient," Keyleth said, clearly more comfortable in the situation now that they were talking about something they had a relative amount of expertise on, "So no dogs."

Percy and Vex found themselves a little taken aback by how beautiful they looked when they were excited, when they felt confident, it was a rare thing to see and it put a little sparkle in their eyes that made them both fall a little more in love. The next two hours of the party went by in a blur of drinking and overall merriment, sometime during the night, Keyleth found themselves talking to Vax about, something that was surprisingly easy for them to do.

"It's weird, but I feel… I don't know. It's like, in another life I knew you better, does that make any sense?" Vax said, somewhat abruptly considering their breezy conversation, he said the words almost quietly, like he was questioning himself as he voiced the thought.

"Kind of, yeah." They tucked a misbehaving bit of hair behind their ear and looked over at Vex, "Must be a twin thing. If you befriend one of you, the other takes to you as well."

" _Befriend?_ Is that what you call it?" Vax replied, smirking at Keyleth's shocked expression, "I mean, you do _like_ my sister don't you?"

"I- uh…" Keyleth stammered, "N-Yeah. I do like her."

"Well that's great! Have you said something to her about it?"

"N-no. She probably doesn't like me back and the whole situation is…" Their eyes lingered on Percy, who had his arm wrapped around Vex's waist, " **Complicated.** "

Vax followed their gaze and smirked before looking back at them with an expression they couldn't define, "I'm pretty sure the situation isn't as complicated as you think it is. You'd be surprised what would happen if you talked it out…" He looked over at Gilmore, his expression fond, "I know I wasted a lot of time pining over him."

Keyleth bit their lip, _'It all sounds so easy, but how would he know about the full situation? Unless my crush on Vex is so completely obvious and she hates it so much that she complains to him all the time… oh gods…'_ Keyleth groaned and put their head in their hands, "Ah shit…"

"Hey, I'm sorry…" Vax rubbed Keyleth's back, "That was supposed to make you feel better, not _worse._ It's all good Kiki." Vax gave them a small smile and tousled their hair, "Seriously, think it over, you might get a better response than you think. Now come on." He threw an arm around their shoulder and guided them over to where Percy and Vex were chatting with Kima, and they spent the rest of the night talking and drinking.

It was the best time anyone had ever had at a house with 'Vessar' on the lease.

 

***

 

Winter's Crest dinner at the Vessar household was a silent affair, all small talk was in the quietest voice they could manage while still being heard. Syldor didn't like loud voices, or any expression of personality in general, so his children and his wife knew that not saying much of anything was the easiest way to prevent upsetting him and creating a giant screaming match.

After a while though, Gilmore just couldn't help himself, Syldor mentioned the twins favourite hobby when they were younger and he just _had_ to say something.

"I'm surprised you remembered such a thing, I didn't think you knew your children at all, guess I was only **_partly_** wrong," Gilmore said the word with a sickening level of false familiarity, it was his speciality, to say cruel words in such a friendly manner that people didn't realise that they were insulted until a few moments later.

Syldor's cold grey eyes hardened into pure steel, "You had better watch your tone--"

"--and you had better not talk that way to my boyfriend father." Vax snapped.

It was hard to tell what insulted his father more, Vax's words or the fact that he cut him off, "Vax'ildan, be careful now."

Vex felt herself shying away from the situation, she withdrew slightly from the table and flinched whenever her father spoke, Percy held her hand under the table and she felt a little braver just from that. Vax was the opposite, every bitter word from his father only made him angrier, more sure that he was in the right.

"Honestly just fuck you, you invite us over so you can pretend like everything is normal, and the minute anyone says the truth you go all man of steel on us!" He yelled across the table "I only came here today because--" He stopped, as if suddenly realising something, and his entire posture changed, "…this isn't how I wanted this to go," Vax continued with a frown, his voice was soft, and where there was once anger instead was the sad tinge of disappointment.

"Well then I have no clue what you expected Vax'ildan! After you ran away and didn't talk to me for **ten** years. When your mother's house burned down, I thought the two of you were dead!" Syldor yelled, standing up and smashing his hands on the table, "But **_no!_** Imagine my surprise when last year I found out that my children are perfectly fine! They would just rather be _homeless_ than be with **me**!"

Keyleth flinched and as an impulse cowered behind Vex, the Vessars were used to Syldor, and Percy had dealt with a rampaging family member many times, but Keyleth had never seen this level of rage before. Initially Vex jumped at their touch, but after realising who it was, relaxed and took comfort in the contact. "Thank you darling," she said in a hoarse whisper, "Sorry. I bet you wish you were spending time with your father around about now."

"Don't worry," Keyleth replied as Vax prepared his retort, "I'd hate it if you guys came here alone."

"I don't get why it always has to be this way! All I wanted to do was talk to you and you have to make it about you!" Vax screamed, "And news flash **_dad,_** if you were a better parent and not an enormous **dick,** Vex and I would have actually contacted you!"

"Well--"

"--No! You know what? Shut up. Shut the fuck up and listen for four seconds." He said, his body almost relaxing for a moment, before tensing up again as he took in a shaky breath and tried to overcome his anxiety.

"Father I need to tell you something. Shaun and I are… well we're engaged."

 


	6. Discussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been three months since this updated last and I have no idea where that time went I'm so sorry y'all

"I see." Syldor replied, his voice soft and calm, a direct contrast to his ridiculous rage only a few seconds prior, he sat down once again and straightened his collar before saying, "Congratulations Vax'ildan, and to you Mr. Gilmore, I'll send for some champagne to celebrate.

Both of the twins gawked and glanced at one another as if to confirm whether or not what happened actually occurred, Vax tried to ignore the pounding in his chest and swallowed the lump in his throat long enough to mumble out some words of gratitude to his father. He clearly was still in complete and utter panic, as Gilmore had to tug on his sleeve five times before he returned to his seat.

Gilmore looked at Vax for about thirty seconds before it became perfectly clear that there was no way he was progressing the conversation, "So, we're still very much in the planning stage, but would you like an invitation?" Shaun asked, his voice smooth as silk.

"Yes, I would appreciate that very much." Syldor replied, draining his glass right as his maid returned with a bottle of champagne that Velora eyed, green with envy at her adult siblings. The rest of the evening was relatively pleasant, as good as any dinner with the Vessar family could be at least, they said their goodbyes to the Vessars and went back to the hotel they were staying at for the night.

Rain poured onto the windscreen and created a deafening noise on the outside of Keyleth's car, Percy looked out the window, watching the lights warp in the water on the glass. He turned to Vex, her dark hair blending into the night sky, her entire form barely visible in the dim light from the dashboard, Percy contemplated his next words thoroughly before saying them.

"Vex, are you… okay with that whole thing that happened back there?" Percy asked, "With your brother being engaged and not telling you?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?" Vex replied, her voice casual but her knuckles turned white as she clenched her hands around the steering wheel, Percy knew instantly that she was doing what she always did when she was hurt, acting unflappable to hide the pain.

"Vex'ahlia." He said, and she felt herself quiver underneath the way he said her name, "It's only you and me…" He looked over his shoulder at Keyleth, who had drool pooling at the corner of their mouth and was snoring rhythmically, "…well it's only you and me and Sleeping Beauty, but you know what I mean." That got a bit of a laugh out of Vex, despite her current state, "You don't have to be brave and okay with everything right now, you can tell me the truth." Vex's dark lips twitched downwards at this, not quite a frown, but an expression of her distaste at the idea of Percy being able to see through her so easily.

"I…" She prepared a lie, it was a good one, one that she had been thinking of since the news, in case anyone knew how she really felt, but it felt pointless now, her mask had been shattered and she felt more exposed than she had ever before. "I really wish he'd told me first." Vex glanced at Percy to gauge his reaction, but his face remained neutral, "He used to share everything with me and now with him moving away and telling my fucking **father** before me… I just… I feel like I'm playing second fiddle, you know? No, not _even_ second fiddle, I'm playing fucking **_forth_** fiddle!" 

Percy smirked at that, "I understand Vex. You've always been with him, when we started living together you said that that was the first time you hadn't lived with Vax, and now he's going to get married, so you feel left out. But you have us okay… you'll never be second fiddle to _me_ darling."

Vex smiled and brushed aside a tear that had welled up at the corner of her eye, "Thank you Percy." She choked out, her voice strained, "And… I hope you know I feel the same for you dear."

"I mean I assumed you did, if I have learned anything about you over the years we've known each other, it's that you have absolutely **terrible** taste."

 

***

 

"Mnmmfh!"

"I know… I _know._ Come on dear," Percy whispered to the still slumbering Keyleth as he lifted them up in his arms, "We're almost there Kiki, just a little bit longer." Keyleth wrapped their arms tight around Percy's neck, making more unintelligible whining sounds as their sleep was disturbed.

"They really go out like a light don't they?" Vex said with a grin, holding the door open for the two of them, "At least they're cute while they're sleeping."

"You and I have different definitions of 'cute', they're drooling onto my coat," Percy chided, smirking at his dark haired friend.

"Oh _please,_ you know you love it." Vex replied as she rolled her eyes, "Keyleth could shoot you in the leg and **you'd** apologise."

"True, but that's only because I am very, **_very_** kinky," He grinned, slipping past Vex and placing Keyleth on their bed, "…and also because I'm pathetic and I think they can do no wrong… but don't get too jealous Vex, you're flawless as well."

"Oh good," She smiled, closing the door softly behind her and collapsing on the bed next to Keyleth, who had now curled around themselves, mumbling in their sleep, "I was getting a little jealous…" Vex's long fingers reach out to stroke Keyleth's copper hair, she couldn't put her finger on exactly _why_ she did it, but she did and it made her feel lighter from that silent touch. "I mean, gods know I want to shoot you one day Percival."

"That's valid." Percy replied as he removed his overcoat and jacket, taking a small running jump and landing heavily in between them, waking Keyleth for a few short seconds before they settled back down into sleep.

"I know we have other beds and other rooms, but I'm so fucking tired now that I think I might pass out right here," Vex murmured, shifting the arm that Percy had trapped underneath him so it was more comfortable.

"That's fine with me dear…" Percy replied, staring at the ceiling, his eyes feeling as if they were becoming heavier each time he blinked. "I mean, it won't be the first time we all slept together."

Vex snorted at the unintentional double entendre, not quite having the energy to whisper her usual 'dirty' before drifting into a deep and dreamless sleep.

 

***

 

Keyleth woke up first, their face pressed against Percy's chest and Vex's fingers tangled in their hair, it was becoming a familiar feeling… being close to the two of them. They disentangled themselves, careful not to wake the other two, and snuck outside for some fresh air, wanting to clear their head before the others got up. Keyleth felt like they were in a haze, they could still feel the warm touch of the two of them on their skin, despite the cold morning air's best efforts to wash it away.

It was so typical for the three of them, they thought to themselves as they watched the sun crest over the buildings that surrounded the hotel. How long where they going to go on like this? Always together but never **_together._** Not that Keyleth felt game enough to broach the subject, they felt an ache in their chest whenever they even considered it. _What if I'm just seeing things that aren't there?_ Their doubts whispered to them, _I'm the replaceable part of the equation anyway, it would be so easy for them to phase me out if they didn't want me like that…_ Suddenly the cool weather felt more suffocating than comforting.

_And why would they want you? You're just-_

"Keyleth! There you are!" Vex was still rubbing her face in a feeble attempt to remove the sleep from her eyes, "I was worried when you weren't there."

"T-Thought maybe someone had come in to kidnap me and left everything else untouched?" It was a weak attempt to quip, their voice shook and they didn't pull it off half as well as Percy would have, but they didn't know what else to say, half their brain was still consumed with finding some kind of hidden message in her words.

"I never said it was a **smart** worry, but I was worried…" Vex reached out, brushing her fingers against their face and tucked a stray piece of hair behind their ear, "I miss you when you're not around you know." Her expression was soft, Keyleth would describe it as loving if not for the fear and doubt that clogged their mind, when Vex pulled her hand away it was like a physical loss to Keyleth, their skin still tingled from the touch, but it felt hollow without her grasp behind it.

They opened their mouth, a string of half formed words pouring out for a few seconds before they settled on saying "Thank you." despite that not really making much sense.

"No, thank _you_ darling. You- you didn't have to come here, you didn't have to put up with the ridiculousness that is my father, but you **did** and that… that means a lot to me. I--." As she spoke she tried to tousle her hair in a movement that was _supposed_ to be effortless but ended with her fingers being caught between three different knots in the chaos that was her bedhead. "Darling-- ** _ow_** \--could you please help me?"

"Okay, let's just-" They started gently pushing Vex back into the room, "-get back inside so I can get a better look at it."

A few sharp exclamations of pain later, Keyleth had managed to free Vex's hand and had begun working on the rest of the mess her dark hair had become over the night.

"Thank you dear," Vex flexed her newly freed fingers, "This is why I never sleep with my hair do- ** _OW-_** "

"Sorry!" Keyleth winced, "I don't know how but this one's a circle!"

"Don't worry, it's only because I wasn't prepared for it. You're managing this pretty well, do you have any expert experience with ridiculous bed hair?"

"Ah yeah, a little. Believe it or not I used to have long hair, but eventually I got…" _Depressed with seeing my own reflection because I looked too much like my mother._ "...fed up with it, you know?"

"I understand." Vex replied, noting the oddly deliberate pause in the middle of the sentence but deciding not to press it, "Sometimes I get frustrated with it too, but Vax and I used to have short hair when we were younger and let me tell you it doesn't look half as good on us as it does on you darling."

"Oh I don't believe that, I think there's not a single look you couldn't pull off if you put your mind to it," Keyleth said, although the image of a sullen young teenage Vex, dissatisfied with her cropped hair did make for an amusing image. "I would love to see pictures of that old haircut though."

Vex stiffened at that, feeling an old ache stab through her chest, "We don't… we don’t have any pictures of us when we were younger." The words were cold, and Keyleth immediately regretted saying anything, "Our- our childhood home burnt down, about seven years ago now, any photos our mother took of us went with it." 

"Oh." It almost fell out of their mouth without them even thinking about it, "I'm sorry. I guess Syldor doesn't have any pictures of you?"

She snorted in response, "Not really, and anything he does have wouldn't exactly be a 'fun family photo'." Vex spoke bitterly, her disdain for Syldor was palpable in every word that spilled from her mouth. "I know he has a portrait of us somewhere, as in an actual **painted** portrait, we had to pose for four hours to get it done and we all look thoroughly miserable in it. Seriously it's almost worth looking at just for its horror movie-esque haunted painting vibe." Her tone picked up when she focused on the portrait, but Keyleth couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she was joking about it to cover her emotions.

Keyleyh had finished brushing through her hair now and were sitting with their hands on her shoulders. Seven years. They remembered something Vex said during that first coffee date. "When your mother's house burnt down… she… she didn't make it did she?"

"No." The reply was simple and to the point, but Keyleth could tell she was near tears.

"I'm sorry." They thought of saying more, that they understood the pain, but it felt like that would cheapen what Vex had gone through. It might make her feel like telling them things was only good if she wanted to hear more about _Keyleth's_ fucked up life… so they just said 'I'm sorry', and they were, they were sorry for Vex, for her mother and her brother, and for the fact that the only parent Vex had left seemed to hate her guts. 

 

***

 

"You packed?"

"Yep! Got all of Percy's stuff too."

"Good. It's not worth attempting to wake him up before we're ready to go." Vex pulled Keyleth's car keys from her pocket and grabbed the bags from them, "Speaking of which…" Vex tapped their leg with her toe, "You're tagged so you gotta wake him up."

"I hate you!" They called after her as she ran to the car and out of sight, leaving Keyleth to the task of waking the world's most nocturnal man. Sitting on the bed next to him, they shook his shoulder, rough enough to stir him without hurting him, after about a minute of this and repeating his name over and over, Percy woke with a start, shocked and confused not only by being woken, but by where he was.

"Ah- bloody hell, I- _ugh_ sorry." He placed his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes thoroughly in an attempt to wake himself up properly, "So um… are we going now?"

"Indeed we are, Vex has got all the stuff in the car and I  _assume_ she's going to check out for us, so all you need to do is get to the car, I figured that's all your tired brain, can handle." Keyleth replied, helping Percy sit up as they said so.

"Yeah, I think you definitely had the right idea on that one," He closed his eyes so tightly that they thought he might fall asleep again.

"Okay," They tousled his hair, partly to keep him conscious but mostly just because they wanted to, it felt right to touch him casually like that. "I'll see you back in the car," They replied, leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek, only to fumble a little with it and plant it basically on the corner of his mouth.

"I- uhhh…. I'm so sorry Perc, I- It was an accident I swear! I'm so sorry…" They didn't wait for Percy to say anything in response to their hasty words, and instead fled from the room, hoping that their hasty exit would make things less awkward and not more.

 

***

 

Percy was still touching the side of his mouth when he reached the car, where Vex waited for him, looking more like a model posing for candids against than anyone had any right to at six in the morning. His heart was still racing and he wished he knew whether to tell Vex about the mostly accidental kiss, had it been a few months ago he would have said so without question, but now, with his feelings for her being almost as complicated and just as deep for Vex as they were for Keyleth, he couldn't help but hesitate, the last thing he wanted was to make Vex think that he wasn't-

"Hello darling, what are you so in your head about?" Vex asked, "You've got your 'I'm thinking' expression on. Did you make a big break in a project while you were sleeping the morning away?"

"Me? I was- uh… Keyleth kissed me."

Vex laughed, "Okay good one. If you don't want to tell me what you're so deep in thought about you can say so, you don't have to be an _ass_ about it."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time…" He replied, only sounding like he was half there in the moment.

"Gods, we need to get you a coffee," Vex pulled him into a half hug, "Get in the car Percival."

"Yes ma'am." He mumbled, feeling tired and confused, but eventually fumbling his way into the backseat of Keyleth's lime green car.


End file.
